This post is part of our Military Moments series, appearing every Friday in July. If you are a veteran or service member who is looking to transition into higher education, we recognize you have specific questions or concerns that other students might not. At Trevecca, we’re ready to guide you through your entire higher education journey, from application to graduation. Each week, Michael Norman, Trevecca’s veteran services coordinator, will prepare you to navigate the service transition.
If you’re like me, one of the hardest decisions you’ll make is choosing a degree or career path after leaving the military. Certainly there are a lot of service members who will be happy to pursue a career in the same profession the military taught them, but perhaps that isn’t the case for you—particularly if you are in a combat arms occupation.
Transitioning from the military into college is a great time for you to kickstart a new career path. Here are a few top degrees you may want to consider if you’re trying to figure out what program is right for you.
- Business and Leadership
Whether you are looking to start your bachelor’s degree or continue your education in a master’s degree, business administration provides some of the most basic and advanced foundations for meeting the criteria in a vast number of careers. Within this degree path, you can find jobs in marketing, accounting, management, human resources, politics, public administration, healthcare administration, and even the music industry! A degree in business is also a perfect companion to your leadership training in the military. It will help provide you with the analytics and business acumen that the military probably didn’t teach you.
At Trevecca, you can explore a number of paths that lead to a degree in business. You can earn an associate in business management or a bachelor’s in business administration, management, and leadership. If you’ve already completed your undergraduate degree, Trevecca also offers master’s degrees in business administration (available in a traditional or accelerated format) and organizational leadership. Want to go even further? Trevecca also offers a doctorate in business administration as well as leadership and professional practice. Offered entirely online, this degree can prepare you to teach, consult, or maximize your influence in a corporate setting. - Information Technology
In today’s world, there seems to be no industry left that doesn’t require the use of technology. A degree in information technology can do more than prepare you for working an IT desk in a corporate office. It can also prepare you for a career in app development or building websites. Technology belongs to science and analysis just as much as it belongs to the arts and human services, so don’t think IT is only for the analytical minded. There are many military occupations that are rich in the use of technology, so why not extend that knowledge into one of the fastest-growing fields in our country?
At Trevecca, we offer many degree plans to help set you on a course in the IT world. You can earn an associate or bachelor’s degree in computer science, graphic design or information systems. If you really want to highlight your military service and leverage it with a degree in technology, you can also earn a bachelor’s degree and pick a cybersecurity and digital forensics track. If you’re more artistic and love creating things, Trevecca also offers degree plans in game design, rich media design, graphic design and web design and development. There are so many jobs available to someone who earns a degree in any of these areas. - Healthcare Administration
Healthcare is a vital industry and one of the fastest-growing fields in the country, expected to add 1.9 million new jobs in the next eight years according to the Bureau for Labor Statistics. Nurses, physician assistants, certified nursing assistants, clinical social workers are all in hot demand. Whether you are interested in working for a hospital or a doctor’s office or even home health, you will have no issue finding work with one of these degrees.
But these aren’t the only healthcare jobs available. A large component of healthcare is administration. You could easily find your way into a corporate office or managing the business side of a doctor’s office with a degree in business, but if either of those is your end goal, it’s probably better to tailor your educational experience with a degree in healthcare administration.
At Trevecca, you have the option to find a degree plan in any of these areas. You could earn a Bachelor of Science in nursing or start a path to occupational or physical therapy. We even offer a master’s degree that equips you to become a physician assistant. In addition, if you already have experience in these areas but want to step into the business side of healthcare, we offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in healthcare administration, as well as a master’s in public administration.
As a veteran, you may be very well suited to any of these scenarios. If you’re uncertain which path is right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to an enrollment counselor and feel free to contact Trevecca’s veteran services office. - Government Service
You chose to serve our country in the military, and there are a lot of potential reasons why you may have made that decision. Maybe you chose to serve because you wanted to make a difference and become part of a team whose mission was to put the needs of our nation first. Just because you’re leaving the military doesn’t mean you can’t continue serving.
A career in public service can be very challenging, but also very rewarding. As a service member, you’ve learned to make decisions based on what is best for the unit rather than what’s best for you personally—and that idea is at the heart of public service.
Trevecca offers a variety of degree plans that can secure you a great job working for local, state or federal agencies, as well as working for elected officials. Social work, communication studies, business, sociology, criminal justice and public policy are all areas that you can study at Trevecca. If you already have a bachelor’s degree, you may be interested in Trevecca’s master’s program in public administration. As a veteran, I’ve found my master’s in public administration to be one of the more rewarding paths of my life. It helped me learn to use my passions and my strengths to better our society. I’d love to talk to you about how public service could provide you with a fulfilling career.
Want to know more?
At Trevecca, we’re ready to help you prepare for the next stage of your life, no matter what it is. These four areas of study only begin to scratch the surface of your options. If none of these seem to strike a chord with you, I’d be happy to talk more with you about your goals and passions and how Trevecca can help you realize them.
